The media spotlight has long been on the environmental damage caused by flying and the carbon emissions given off by airlines. The search for ways to reduce the negative impact of flying on the environment has prompted several airlines, together with aircraft manufacturers, to investigate alternatives to traditional fossil fuels.

In February 2008, Virgin Atlantic operated the first commercial flight from Heathrow airport to Amsterdam with one engine powered by a 20% bio-fuel mixture of Brazilian babassu nut oil and coconut.

In January 2009, Continental Airlines conducted America’s first commercial airline bio-fuel flight using a mix of 50 percent biologically-derived fuel from algae and jatropha plants and 50 percent traditional jet fuel in one engine.

The search for greener alternatives continues, but while we wait for the airline industry to make a major discovery in this area, the focus has shifted to airline passengers and their responsibility to address the carbon emissions caused by their flights.

Carbon dioxide is given off by the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, gas and oil. Many of our daily activities – driving, heating our homes, and of course flying – contribute to the amount of CO2 released in to the atmosphere.

A way to tackle the impact of your flight is to purchase carbon offsetting, but what is carbon offsetting, how expensive is it, and can it really help?

Mention carbon offsetting to some people and they automatically think of planting trees, which absorb carbon dioxide. However, many schemes aim to lower the amount of carbon dioxide produced in other parts of the world by contributing to carbon reducing schemes.

To offset the carbon emissions of your flight, you will need to calculate your emissions using an online emissions calculator. These are simple and easy to use, just enter your departing airport and destination; select one way or return trip; select the number of passengers in your party, and press calculate; your total mileage, and total carbon emissions are then displayed. Once you know the total amount of CO2 you are generating, you can opt to purchase credits equivalent to that amount. Your money then goes to funding emission reducing projects throughout the world that will prevent or remove the equivalent amount of CO2 your flights have generated.

For example:
A single, return flight from London Heathrow Airport to New York JFK, 11080 miles, produces 1.53 tonnes of CO2 will cost £13.22 to offset*

Some of the current carbon reducing projects available include: developing sustainable energy plants, such as wind farms, to reduce developing countries’ dependency on fossil fuels; and providing fuel efficient, wood burning stoves to reduce dependency on charcoal.

Some airlines offer the option to purchase carbon offsetting when you book your flights.

As with any developing market, if there’s money to be made, many companies will try to get in on the action, so you need to be aware of what companies are offering and whether your money is going to do exactly what you want it to do. To this end, a code of best practice is being developed to identify UN and EU approved projects.

Carbon offsetting is not a cure for global warming and it won’t reduce the impact of your flight, but it can help to reduce carbon emissions in other parts of the world.

While commercial airlines and aircraft manufacturers continue to investigate alternatives to oil, the decision whether to offset our flight’s carbon emissions is in our hands.

*http://www.jpmorganclimatecare.com

Monarch is to extend its onboard recycling programme to all flights operating into Birmingham Airport. The announcement follows the successful launch of the recycling initiative on Gatwick flights.

All aluminium, plastic, glass and paper used during the Birmingham flights will be separated by cabin crew and will be recycled after landing.

Commenting on the extension of its onboard recycling programme, managing director of Monarch Airlines, Tim Jeans said, “Over the past 3 months our onboard recycling initiative on flights into Gatwick has been fantastically received by both Monarch cabin crew and customers, with many customers assisting the process by separating their own recyclable waste before collection by the crew.

“70% of the waste generated in the cabin is potentially recyclable, so the fact that more airlines are not adopting similar policies is staggering. We are delighted that our ongoing work with Birmingham Airport is enabling us to introduce the scheme on flights into the airport, however we urge our other UK and European airports to introduce the necessary recycling infrastructure to enable us to roll out the scheme to include all Monarch services”.

Two 15 metre high wind turbines have been erected either side of the main approach road to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Each turbine can provide sufficient energy to power a standard 4-6 bedroom house and is part of a trial to explore ways to minimise the impact of the airport’s operations and to better understand the effects of turbines of this size on the airport’s sensitive air traffic control equipment.

Liverpool Airport believes it is the first of the UK airports to install wind turbines.

Andrew Dutton JLA’s Environment Manager said, “The Airport will continually look at ways to minimise the environmental impact of operating a growing regional airport. The wind turbines will potentially, along with other renewable energy sources, play an important part in the airport’s future development. This trial will hopefully demonstrate that turbines can be sited at an operational airport and that others can follow suit. These small yet extremely efficient turbines are proving that wind turbines at airports can make an important contribution to sustainable energy supply.”

For up-to-date Liverpool airport information and to book Liverpool airport parking and Liverpool hotels click on the links.

This February will see aviation history when the first commercial plane will fly on biofuel.

As part of a major initiative between Boeing and some of the major airlines, Virgin Atlantic will fly one of its Boeing 747s on biofuel. The plane is scheduled to fly without passengers from London Heathrow airport to Amsterdam.

The demonstration forms part of Virgin Atlantic’s vision for what the aviation industry can achieve by using clean-fuel technology to reduce carbon emissions.

Sir Richard Branson, President of Virgin Atlantic, said: “This breakthrough will help Virgin Atlantic to fly its planes using clean fuel sooner than expected. The demonstration flight next month will give us crucial knowledge that we can use to dramatically reduce our carbon footprint. Virgin Group pledged to invest all its profits from its transportation companies towards developing clean energy and with this breakthrough we are well down the path to achieving our goals.”

The media spotlight has long been on the environmental damage caused by flying and the carbon emissions given off by airlines, however, very little focus is placed on the environmental impact of travel to and from the airport.

In an attempt to reduce pollution, carbon emissions and alleviate traffic congestion, airports and travel providers are continually trying to encourage air travellers to use public transport when travelling to and from the airports. Obviously, taking public transport to the airport is the most environmentally friendly way of travelling to the airport, but isn’t always practical.

In recent years we have seen a significant rise in the environmentally unfriendly method of travelling to the airport – Kiss and Fly.

Kiss and fly is the enlisting of friends or family to take passengers to the airport – an innocent method of transportation, or is it?

The process of kiss and fly involves twice as many journeys as that of driving to the airport and parking your own car, as the car needs to travel to the airport twice, once to drop off passengers and then back to pick up passengers on their return.

The impact of kiss and fly is made apparent when you consider Gatwick airport alone, which currently handles 35.1 million passengers per year. In 2005, 27% of air travellers through Gatwick were driven to the airport in cars belonging to friends or family. In fact, in 2005, kiss and fly accounted for four times as many car trips to and from Gatwick than cars in the long-stay car parks!

If all travellers using kiss and fly switched to Gatwick airport parking, or Gatwick meet and greet, this would result in a 50% reduction of road trips leading to reduced congestion on roads surrounding the airport, and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions.

From a convenience point of view, kiss and fly is probably one of the most inconvenient methods of travel too. Due to security measures implemented at the airports, it is no longer possible to be dropped off right outside the airport terminal, as all cars must drive into the short-stay car parks and park before dropping off passengers.

So before you telephone your mate to drive you to the airport, stop, consider convenience and the environment and drive yourself.

Continental Airlines has announced that it is to offer a carbon offsetting programme.

The airline has teamed up with Sustainable Travel International to offer a voluntary programme which allows passengers worldwide to check the carbon footprint of their flights and make a contribution to Sustainable Travel International.

Sustainable Travel International provides carbon offset projects, located all over the world, which are independently verified or certified by third-party sources.

Continental offers flights from Birmingham airport, Bristol airport, Edinburgh airport, Glasgow airport and London’s Gatwick and Heathrow.

Monach has announced it is to become the first UK airline to implement a full recycling programme onboard all its flights.

The launch of the scheme has been introduced on all flights operating into London Gatwick, and follows a trial which was successfully received by customers and cabin crew.

All recyclable items – aluminium drinks cans, plastic & glass bottles and newspapers and magazines – are placed in separate recycling bags by cabin crew – these bags are then handed to cleaning crew at Gatwick for recycling.

Commenting on the launch of the scheme, managing director of Monarch Airlines, Tim Jeans said, “Monarch has been operating a paper collection scheme onboard its flights for a number of years now but feedback from passengers and crew highlighted the fact that the recycling of other items, such as plastics and cans, is a part of everyday life now which people wished to continue – if they were at home they’d be recycling the items, so why should they not do so on flights?

“With 70% of the waste generated in the cabin being potentially recyclable, Monarch has been working with Gatwick Airport on the initiative to ensure that the recyclable waste is removed from the aircraft on arrival and recycled appropriately. We are looking to extend the scheme to include all Monarch’s flights over the coming months and we urge our other UK and European airports to introduce the necessary recycling infrastructure to allow us to do so”.

For further Gatwick airport information and to book Gatwick meet and greet parking and Gatwick hotels click on the links.

Passengers travelling through Blackpool airport are to be given the option of offsetting the CO2 emissions from their flight.

In a joint venture, Blackpool airport has teamed up with co2balance.com to provide a carbon calculator to help travellers work out the carbon footprint of their flight and then offset the CO2 through a tree planting scheme. A mixture of native broad-leafed trees will be planted in an area known as ‘Blackpool International Airport Woodland’ near Faugh in Cumbria.

Stephen Wiltshire, Operations Director at Blackpool International, said: “It’s all about giving people the information about their journey and the environmental impact it can have. With this carbon calculator, we are offering our staff and passengers the option to take action against this.

“Whilst air travel’s contribution in terms of global emissions is small at about 2 or 3%, we do recognise the fact that it is growing and that is why it is important to take action now and offer our passengers and staff effective options to offset the carbon that their flight will create.

“We hope that as well as taking steps to carbon offset their air travel to have a ‘Carbon Zero’ flight, people will take this action home and think about their own carbon footprint and energy use.”

For up-to-date Blackpool airport information and to book Blackpool airport parking and Blackpool hotels click on the links.

Plans have been unveiled today for the first UK Airport wind turbines, at East Midlands Airport.

The four proposed wind turbines, which will generate 10% of the Airport’s energy, are another important step closer to making Airport site operations carbon neutral by 2012.

The Airport has approached North West Leicestershire District Council to seek permission to install the turbines on-site with careful consideration being given to all aspects of the proposals. Advice has been sought from world leading safety assessment company Qinetiq and the Civil Aviation Authority, in order to ensure the safety of the plans ahead of the planning process.

Powered entirely by wind, the turbines will be installed by Lancaster based company, Wind Direct on the Airport site, away from the runway and other functional areas to ensure operational safety of East Midlands flights. Measuring 31.5 metres in height, the airport is confident that the green energy makers will be up and running by spring 2008.

Penny Coates, East Midlands Airport Managing Director said “This is fantastic news for the airport as we are delivering on the promises that we made in our Master Plan. In addition to our plans to install turbines, we have increased the proportion of our energy that comes from renewable sources this year to 20%. We have already introduced a number of new environmental measures such as our on site recycling facility and our “green” pier. The turbines will be a welcome addition to our suite of environmental measures and I hope that this initiative is something which the community and indeed the East Midlands region can feel proud of.”

Adrian Maddocks, Development Director, Wind Direct said, “This project sets an impressive milestone for the Airport and we are very pleased to be working with them. The four wind turbines demonstrate the airport’s commitment to green energy and help reduce carbon dioxide emissions for the lifetime of the project.”

Senior managers will be in attendance at local parish council meetings in the coming weeks to discuss the plans in more detail, full details of which will be available on the Airport website www.eastmidlandsairport.com

Turbine Community Information events are also planned on the below dates for members of the public interested in finding out more:

• Diseworth Village Hall Thursday 13th September 1500 – 1900
• Castle Donington Community College Thursday 20th September 1530 – 1930

Environmental campaigners were ejected from four UK airports yesterday as they protested against what they call the ‘binge-flying’ culture which they claim affects the climate.

Dressed as stewards and stewardesses, Greenpeace activists set up fake check-in desks at London City airport, Manchester airport, Newcastle airport and Edinburgh airport and offered free return train tickets to passengers.

Speaking of the stunts, Greenpeace director John Sauven said the aim was to give people the chance to make a climate-friendly train journey on their return.